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The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Wes Anderson
Produced by	Wes Anderson Barry Mendel Scott Rudin
Written by	Wes Anderson Noah Baumbach
Starring	Bill Murray Owen Wilson Cate Blanchett Anjelica Huston Willem Dafoe Jeff Goldblum Michael Gambon Bud Cort
Music by	Mark Mothersbaugh
Cinematography	Robert Yeoman
Editing by	David Moritz
Distributed by	Touchstone Pictures
Release date(s)	December 25 2004
Running time	119 min.
Country
Language	English
Budget	$50 million
Gross revenue	$24,006,726
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is Wes Anderson's fourth feature length film, released in the U.S. on December 25, 2004. It was written by Anderson and Noah Baumbach and was filmed in and around Naples, Ponza and the Italian Riviera. Download high resolution version (540x800, 163 KB) This is a copyrighted poster. ... Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American director, writer, and producer of features, short films and commercials. ... Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American director, writer, and producer of features, short films and commercials. ... Barry Mendel is a Rye Country Day School graduate who has produced various films including: Rule of the Bone (2006) (pre-production) (producer) Flora Plum (2006) (filming) (producer) Munich (2005) (producer) Serenity (2005) (producer) The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) (producer) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) (producer) Unbreakable (2000) (producer... Scott Rudin (born July 14, 1958) is an American motion picture producer and theatre producer known for his award-winning films and Broadway plays and also for his legendary temper. ... Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American director, writer, and producer of features, short films and commercials. ... Noah Baumbach (born September 3, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American independent film writer and director. ... William James Bill Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy-, Golden Globe-, and BAFTA-winning American comedian and actor. ... Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and writer. ... Catherine Élise Cate Blanchett (born May 14, 1969) is an Australian actress and stage director. ... Anjelica Huston (born July 8, 1951) is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe Award-winning American actress and former fashion model. ... William Dafoe, Jr. ... Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum (born October 22, 1952) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor. ... Sir Michael John Gambon, KBE (born October 19, 1940), is an acclaimed Irish-British actor who has worked in television, film and theatre. ... Harold and Maude, 1971 Bud Cort (born Walter Edward Cox on March 29, 1948) is an American film and stage actor, writer, and director. ... Mark Mothersbaugh (born May 18, 1950, in Akron, Ohio) is an American musician, composer, singer, and painter. ... Robert David Yeoman, A.S.C. Robert Yeoman was born on 10 March, 1951 in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania. ... David Moritz is an actor. ... Touchstone Pictures (also known as Touchstone Films in its early years) is one of several alternate film labels of The Walt Disney Company, established in 1984. ... is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American director, writer, and producer of features, short films and commercials. ... This article is about motion pictures. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Noah Baumbach (born September 3, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American independent film writer and director. ... Location of the city of Naples (red dot) within Italy. ... Ponza and the Pontine Islands. ... Liguria and the Italian Riviera Portofino’s small harbour on the Italian Riviera The Italian Riviera ( ) is the narrow coastal strip which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines. ...

The offbeat comedy stars Bill Murray as Steve Zissou, an eccentric oceanographer. In this ensemble cast, Steve Zissou sets out to exact revenge on the "jaguar shark" that ate his partner Esteban. Murray's character is both a parody of and homage to Jacques-Yves Cousteau, to whom the film is dedicated. William James Bill Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy-, Golden Globe-, and BAFTA-winning American comedian and actor. ... Thermohaline circulation Oceanographic frontal systems on the southern hemisphere Oceanography (from the greek words Ωκεανός meaning Ocean and γράφω meaning to write), also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth Sciences that studies the Earths oceans and seas. ... An ensemble cast is a cast in which the principal performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance in a dramatic production. ... For other uses, see Shark (disambiguation). ... A parody (pronounced ), in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, or author, by means of humorous or satiric imitation. ... For a description of the medieval homage ceremony see commendation ceremony Homage is generally used in modern English to mean any public show of respect to someone to whom you feel indebted. ... Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1976. ...

It was released May 10, 2005 on DVD as part of The Criterion Collection. is the 130th day of the year (131st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... DVD (also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc - see Etymology) is a popular optical disc storage media format. ... The Criterion Collection logo The Criterion Collection is a privately held company that distributes authoritative consumer versions of important classic and contemporary films on DVD. It was established in 1984 as a joint venture between Janus Films and the Voyager Company. ...

Plot

This movie details the adventures of once-famed oceanographer and documentarian Steve Zissou. His latest film covers the death of his best friend Esteban du Plantier (Seymour Cassel) by an animal Zissou describes as a "Jaguar shark". For his next project he is determined to find the creature and destroy it. Thermohaline circulation Oceanographic frontal systems on the southern hemisphere Oceanography (from the greek words Ωκεανός meaning Ocean and γράφω meaning to write), also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth Sciences that studies the Earths oceans and seas. ... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... Seymour Joseph Cassel (born January 22, 1935 or 1937[1]) is an Academy Award-nominated American character actor. ...

Steve's crew aboard his research vessel Belafonte includes Pelé dos Santos (Seu Jorge), safety expert and Brazilian musician who sings David Bowie songs in Portuguese; Klaus Daimler (Willem Dafoe), a lovable German second-in-command who views Steve and Esteban as father figures and feels threatened by Steve's presumed son, Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson). Minor crew members include Vikram Ray (Waris Ahluwalia), a Sikh cameraman, described in Zissou's featured film documentary as a man "born on the Ganges"; Bobby Ogata (Niels Koizumi), Team Zissou's frogman who is usually seen eating (in the film he was seen eating a banana as Ned was diving and a sandwich in the sauna); Vladimir Wolodarsky (Noah Taylor), crew experimentator and original score composer; Renzo Pietro (Pamel Wdowczak), screen editor; and Anne-Marie Sakowitz (Robyn Cohen), a usually topless script girl. Sakowitz, along with a pack of unpaid college interns (who attend the University of North Alaska) jump ship after the crew is raided by pirates. The interns who leave only get incompletes for this "course." Seu Jorge playing at the 2006 Coachella Festival Seu Jorge (b. ... David Bowie (pronounced ) (born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947) is an English musician, actor, producer, arranger, and audio engineer. ... William Dafoe, Jr. ... Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and writer. ... Waris Ahluwalia is a popular jewelry designer in Hollywood, California. ... Religions Sikhism Scriptures Guru Granth Sahib Languages English, Punjabi] A Sikh (English: or ; Punjabi: , , IPA: ) is an adherent to Sikhism. ... This article is about the actor; for the Desperate Housewives character, see Noah Taylor (Desperate Housewives character). ... Robyn Cohen Robyn Cohen is an American actress best known for her role as the script girl in Wes Andersons The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. ... Look up pirate and piracy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Ned is a polite, innocent and childlike Southern gentleman whose mother has recently died. After meeting Steve at a film premiere, he takes a break from his job as an airline pilot in Kentucky to join the Zissou crew, and finances the new film with his inheritance when no one else will. Modern definition The states in dark red are almost always included in modern day definitions of the South, while those in medium red are usually included. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ...

Steve is also followed around by a reporter, Jane Winslett-Richardson (Cate Blanchett). She is a fan of his and is pregnant with her married boss's child. She eventually falls in love with Ned and, as a result, a rivalry develops between Ned and Steve, because Steve is himself infatuated with Jane. Catherine Élise Cate Blanchett (born May 14, 1969) is an Australian actress and stage director. ...

The Belafonte crew sets off on one last mission. They have to deal with their own financial problems as well as a murderous attack from pirates. In their own subsequent sneak attack on the pirates they end up rescuing a "bond company stooge" (Bud Cort) who had been hired by Zissou's producer Oseary Drakoulias (Michael Gambon). They also rescue Zissou's nemesis, Alistair Hennessey (Jeff Goldblum). Hennessey is the opposite of Zizzou: successful, suave, rich, and "part-gay". A corporate bond is a bond issued by a corporation. ... Harold and Maude, 1971 Bud Cort (born Walter Edward Cox on March 29, 1948) is an American film and stage actor, writer, and director. ... Sir Michael John Gambon, KBE (born October 19, 1940), is an acclaimed Irish-British actor who has worked in television, film and theatre. ... Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum (born October 22, 1952) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor. ...

Zissou also reunites with his wife Eleanor (Anjelica Huston) who was once married to Hennessey. But while searching for the Jaguar Shark, the Zissou helicopter crashes, injuring Steve and killing Ned. Although Eleanor reveals that Zissou is actually sterile and therefore Ned could not have been his son, Steve and Ned had become as close as a real father and son. Anjelica Huston (born July 8, 1951) is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe Award-winning American actress and former fashion model. ... For other uses, see Helicopter (disambiguation). ... Infertility primarily refers to the biological inability of a man or a woman to contribute to conception. ...

Zissou finally tracks down the shark but decides not to kill it, both because of its beauty and his lack of dynamite. Viewing the shark finally validates a daily existence that Zissou himself had feared may have become meaningless. Eleanor is moved by this and falls in love with Steve all over again. The finished "film-within-a-film" is a hit, and Steve wins an award, regaining respect worldwide. Mise en abyme (also written, mise en abîme) has several meanings in the realms of creative arts and literary theory. ...

The newest member of the team shown at the end of the film is Klaus's nephew, Werner, a young Zissou fan who briefly appears at the beginning of the film and who seems to represent another surrogate son.

Cast

• Bill Murray as Steve Zissou
• Owen Wilson as Edward "Ned" Plimpton/Kingsley Zissou
• Cate Blanchett as Jane Winslett-Richardson
• Anjelica Huston as Eleanor Zissou
• Willem Dafoe as Klaus Daimler
• Jeff Goldblum as Alistair Hennessey
• Michael Gambon as Oseary Drakoulias
• Noah Taylor as Vladimir Wolodarsky
• Bud Cort as Bill Ubell, "Bond Company Stooge"
• Seu Jorge as Pelé dos Santos
• Robyn Cohen as Anne-Marie Sakowitz
• Waris Ahluwalia as Vikram Ray
• Matthew Gray Gubler as Intern #1
• Antonio Monda as Himself

William James Bill Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy-, Golden Globe-, and BAFTA-winning American comedian and actor. ... Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and writer. ... Catherine Élise Cate Blanchett (born May 14, 1969) is an Australian actress and stage director. ... Anjelica Huston (born July 8, 1951) is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe Award-winning American actress and former fashion model. ... William Dafoe, Jr. ... Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum (born October 22, 1952) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor. ... Sir Michael John Gambon, KBE (born October 19, 1940), is an acclaimed Irish-British actor who has worked in television, film and theatre. ... This article is about the actor; for the Desperate Housewives character, see Noah Taylor (Desperate Housewives character). ... Harold and Maude, 1971 Bud Cort (born Walter Edward Cox on March 29, 1948) is an American film and stage actor, writer, and director. ... Seu Jorge playing at the 2006 Coachella Festival Seu Jorge (b. ... Robyn Cohen Robyn Cohen is an American actress best known for her role as the script girl in Wes Andersons The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. ... Waris Ahluwalia is a popular jewelry designer in Hollywood, California. ... Matthew Gray Gubler (born March 9, 1980) is an American actor, film director, sketch artist, and former fashion model. ... Antonio Monda is an Italian film director, journalist, and professor at New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts. ...

Reception

Critical reception was generally mixed, with a composite 52% score on Rotten Tomatoes[1]. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

During the promotion of his next film, Anderson stated that while The Life Aquatic was the film the team set out to make, he had regrets about the filming process and the excessive money that had been spent due to its difficult production.^{[citation needed]}

Film references

• The cross-section of the boat is an homage to the 1972 film Tout va bien, in which the same thing is done with a factory.
• At one point Steve Zissou and Klaus Daimler are standing outside Jane Winslett-Richardson's cabin door. Steve says "Not this one, Klaus", a little homage to the character of Jules in the Truffaut film Jules et Jim. Jules and Jim have been happily sharing their girlfriends, but when Catherine comes onto the scene, Jules is smitten.
• There is a scene from the documentary in which Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Cate Blanchett are arranged in a row and are pointing forward, looking straight ahead. This is a reference to an earlier Anderson film, Bottle Rocket, where characters Dignan, Anthony and Bob are arranged as such for the cover.
• Both scenes involving aerial shots of character's feet (in the Hot Air Balloon as well as the shot before the helicopter crashes) are homages to Fellini's 8½.
• The scene during the credits, in which the characters walk along a pier, was inspired by the film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. When the characters board the ship, there is a man wearing a pilot's uniform and smoking a pipe at the top most point of the ship, before the rest of the crew have boarded. This is Ned reappearing for a "curtain call" (per the director's commentary), similar to how a deceased character appears at the end of the Buckaroo Banzai credits.

Tout va Bien Tout va bien is a 1972 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard and collaborator Jean-Pierre Gorin starring Jane Fonda and Yves Montand. ... François Roland Truffaut (French IPA: ) (February 6, 1932 – October 21, 1984) was one of the founders of the French New Wave in filmmaking, and remains an icon of the French film industry. ... Jules et Jim is a 1962 film by François Truffaut based on the novel by Henri-Pierre Roché. Truffaut described the book as a perfect hymn to love and perhaps to life. He came across it during the mid 1950s whilst browsing through some secondhand books in Paris and... For other uses, see Bottle Rocket (disambiguation). ... 8½ (Italian: Otto e Mezzo) is a 1963 film written and directed by Italian director Federico Fellini. ... The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension! (also more simply referred to as Buckaroo Banzai) is an American science fiction film that has reached cult film status. ...

Real-world references

• The scene at the end of the movie with Steve walking the red carpet with Klaus's nephew on his shoulders was inspired by Francis Ford Coppola walking with daughter Sofia on his shoulders at the Cannes Film Festival in the late 1970s. The scene is the same down to the white knee socks and black shoes Sofia wore.
• "Zissou" was the nickname of French photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue's older brother. The portrait of Lord Mandrake, Zissou's mentor, is based on a famous photograph of Lartigue, and the photographer (who died in 1986) is even credited as playing the part in the end credits. Wes Anderson also referenced the photographer's work in Rushmore.
• Although Anderson had made up the main character's unlikely name, it was eventually learned that there is a real Steve Zissou, a trial lawyer in New York. After being contacted by the film's production company, Zissou granted permission for his name to be used in the film, and he is listed in the film's credits.^[1]
• The name of Zissou's research ship was the Belafonte. The name is a parody of Jacques-Yves Cousteau's ship The Calypso. Harry Belafonte is a famous singer of Calypso music.

Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939) is a five-time Academy Award winning American film director, producer, and screenwriter. ... Sofia Carmina Coppola (born May 14, 1971) is an American film director, actress, producer and Academy Award-winning screenwriter. ... The Cannes Film Festival (French: le Festival de Cannes), founded in 1939, is one of the worlds oldest, most influential and prestigious film festivals. ... Jacques Henri Lartigue was a French photographer and painter. ... Rushmore is a 1998 movie directed by Wes Anderson about an eccentric teenager named Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) and his friendship with rich industrialist Herman Blume (Bill Murray), and their mutual love for elementary school teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). ... Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1976. ... Harold George Belafonte, Jr. ... Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad at about the start of the 20th century. ...

Soundtrack

Main articles: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (soundtrack) and The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions

The soundtrack to The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou contains a style typical of other Wes Anderson films. Mark Mothersbaugh, a member of Devo, composed the score for the soundtrack as well as for many of Anderson's other films. The film also features many rock songs from the 1960s-1980s. Additionally, the film and soundtrack feature Seu Jorge performing David Bowie songs in Portuguese on the acoustic guitar. Jorge, who also plays the character of Pelé dos Santos, performs some of these cover songs live, in character during the film.^[2] The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou a 2004 soundtrack to the Wes Anderson film of the same name. ... The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions featuring Seu Jorge is a soundtrack album by Seu Jorge. ... Mark Mothersbaugh (born May 18, 1950, in Akron, Ohio) is an American musician, composer, singer, and painter. ... Devo (pronounced DEE-vo or dee-VO, often spelled DEVO or DEV-O) is an American New Wave group formed in Akron, Ohio in 1972. ... Seu Jorge playing at the 2006 Coachella Festival Seu Jorge (b. ... David Bowie (pronounced ) (born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947) is an English musician, actor, producer, arranger, and audio engineer. ...

Filming details

• The ship used as the Belafonte is the former minesweeper SAS Walvisbaai/HMS Packington (M1214).
• The orca shown briefly in the film is known as "Valentin" in real life. He resides at Marineland Antibes in Antibes, France.^{[citation needed]} The gag he appears in was originally written for Rushmore, when Max is looking into purchasing fish for the aquarium.
• The walkie-talkie masks are AGA Divators.
• The handguns Steve and his crew use are Glock 17 semi-automatics.^{[citation needed]}
• Zissou wears an Amphibia diving watch, made by Vostok of Russia.

The Ton class were coastal minesweepers built for the Royal Navy and South African Navy in the 1950s. ... The HMS Packington (M1214) was Ton class minesweeper built by Harland & Wolff. ... Binomial name Orcinus orca Linnaeus, 1758 Orca range (in blue) The Orca or Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) is the largest species of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae). ... Antibes (Provençal Occitan: Antíbol in classical norm or Antibo in Mistralian norm) is a resort town of southeastern France, on the Mediterranean Sea in the Côte dAzur, located between Cannes and Nice. ... Rushmore is a 1998 movie directed by Wes Anderson about an eccentric teenager named Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) and his friendship with rich industrialist Herman Blume (Bill Murray), and their mutual love for elementary school teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). ... The Glock 17 was the first pistol designed and manufactured by the Austrian company Glock. ... Vostok (Russian: Восток, meaning East) Watch Makers, Inc. ...

Notes

IGN is the oldest and most visited general gaming website, and runs one of the most popular forums on the Internet. ...

External links

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The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

• The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
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• The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou at Box Office Mojo